PHET
Soda Bottle Magnetometer
Introduce learners to set of complete instructions that describe how to build a magnetometer that works just like the ones professional photographers use to predict auroras. The diagrams are wonderfully descriptive, and the written...
Curated OER
Planets in Our Solar System
Each member of a four-student group takes on a specific aspect of an assigned planet to research. After gathering information, the team works together to create a travel brochure and a presentation intended to convince other classmates...
University of Colorado
Are All Asteroids' Surfaces the Same Age?
There are more than 600,000 asteroids in our solar system. Pupils analyze images of two asteroids in order to determine if they are the same age. They count craters for each asteroid and compare numbers.
University of Colorado
Clay Planets
Why do scientists use models? In the first installment of 22, groups create scale models of our solar system. They then share and discuss their models.
Curated OER
Is Portland, Oregon Experiencing Global Warming?
Students use data to determine if the climate in Portland has changed over the years. In this weather lesson plan students complete line graphs and study long wave radiation.
Yummy Math
Curiosity Landed on Mars
Out of this world math and science are mixed together on a worksheet that would be a great enrichment activity classrooms that are studying our solar system. The information presented is best suited toward middle school math, and...
Curated OER
Blame It On El Nino
Students study the weather phenomenon El Nino is and what causes it, and recognize how remote sensing technology can detect and predict El Nino. Students discover how El Nino affects weather conditions throughout the globe through research.
Curated OER
Our Nation's Natural Disasters
Sixth graders classify their regions' natural disaster(s). Within this lesson students enhance their research skills by utilizing different resources, as well as their writing skills by composing short research papers.
Curated OER
Sky Observations Sky & Cloud Windows
Students observe the sky and weather to gather data. They conduct experiments to answer questions about the sky and weather phenomena. They measure, analyze and present data. They create sky windows by gluing sky colored paint chips...
Curated OER
Celestial Seasonings
Students review and discuss video about the relationships between the Earth, Sun and Moon. They create a HyperStudio stack about the Earth, Sun and Moon including created animation. Students present their finished product to the class.
Curated OER
Third from the Sun
Students examine images from space. In this third from the Sun lesson plan, students examine images from, Landsat, the satellite launched by NASA in 1972.
Curated OER
Gravity
Sixth graders explore the characteristics of gravity. They discuss gravity on Earth and then use cereal boxes to research and compare the weight of objects on Earth to the weight of those objects on other planets.
Curated OER
Climate in the Western Regions
Learners examine the interactions of the Earth's systems and other objects in space. In this climate change lesson students study the pros and cons of different climates and what their preferences are.
Curated OER
Stellarium
Students explore the rotation of the planets from various locations on Earth
Using planetarium software, they will make observations, and explain how the rotation of the planets varies based on ones location on the Earth. Students...
Curated OER
Painting the Hallway with Pixels
Students create science design to be painted on the wall in the hallway of the science area of the school building. They measure space available, make a scale model of the design, and paint different pixels.
Curated OER
Investigating the Dynamic Martian Polar Caps
Students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter, and measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps.
Curated OER
What Factors Impact a Greenhouse?
Young scholars analyze the Greenhouse Effect and the science of greenhouses. For this global climate lesson, students read background information about the 'greenhouse effect' and define 'albedo.' Young scholars examine pictures of...
Curated OER
Making Clouds: Aerosol-Cloud Interactions in a Beaker
Students observe a teacher demo on how clouds form. In this earth science lesson, students discover how cloudiness affects relative humidity. They explain the scattering of light by clouds.
Curated OER
Organisms and Their Environment
Students explore Earth's biosphere. In this biosphere lesson, students participate in group activities regarding biotic and abiotic factors, population density, and species' habitats.
Curated OER
Making The Geologic Time Scale Real
Students are assigned significant geologic events in Earth's history. They convert the date of the events into distances and then space themselves (on an outside playing field) away from other groups, to represent time between various...
Curated OER
Charting Seasonal Changes
Learners research the Earth's patterns of rotation and revolution, create a chart and graph of these patterns and use them to explain the causes of night and day and summer and winter.
Curated OER
Global Winds
Students extend their understanding of convection to consider global winds and the effect of the earth's rotation on the creation of patterns of prevailing wind direction.
Curated OER
Seafloor Block Model
Students construct a 3-D block model of the ocean floor to study fundamental earth processes. This is a preconstructed cut out that allows the students to put it together but then to add their own colors as well. There is an evaluation...
Curated OER
Your Address in the Galaxy
Learners create a business card after researching their location in space and determining their Galactic Address.